The 75th Hunger Games, featured in Lionsgate’s 2013 release The Hunger Games: Catching FireMarked two significant changes to Panem’s deadly competition. The first was that the tributes were reaped from previous conquests, instead of the rightful conquests of the districts. The second was that there would be no victor, an outcome that would involve Panem in rebellion, and the result of a plot embedded in the game’s design. Every tribute that goes into the Hunger Games expects a spectacle, bloodshed and one victor at the end of it all. At least, that was the expectation before the 75th annual Hunger Games.
Catching fireThe second film in The Hunger Games Movie franchise, takes place a year after Katniss and Peeta win the 74th Hunger Games. The Districts, much like Katniss, are in the midst of a tug of war, with President Snow’s suppression tactics on one side, and a steadily growing rebellion on the other. While The outcome of the Special Quarter Quill would decide the fate of Panem going forwardHer reason speaks to the oppression in Panem and of the tributes themselves.
The 75th Hunger Games in Catching Fire did not have a victor
As Haymitch tells Katniss, nobody wins these games, a statement that rings very true Catching fire. Typically, the last tribute alive is crowned victor, the exception being Katniss and Peeta’s double win in the 74th Hunger Games. Their decision to die together rather than kill each other was an incredibly intelligent strategy. They knew that faith in the games was held by the promise and possibility of winning. By threatening to have no winner, thus destabilizing belief in the games in the districts and the victors, they set the gears in motion for the outcome of the Quarter Quell.
Katniss’ actions in the previous film made her a beacon of hope for the oppressed districts. Her spite and compassion also inspired a rebellion in the Capitol itself. Through head gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee’s careful puppeteering of President Snow, Plutarch is able to return the victors to the arena and save Katniss. Unites the victors through anger allowed them to rebel against the games. Although the initial strategies were wrong, Katniss made a statement by electrifying and destroying the arena, forcing the Quarter Quill to finish. Since Plutarch rescued the tributes, there is no victory.
It must be the capital that ends the games and, as the game was interrupted by Katniss and Plutarch, a victor cannot be crowned by snow. He would not reward the surviving tributes with food and wealth regardless; He tortured both Joanna and Peeta for rebelling. But the fact that there was no victor showed a newfound unwillingness to play the Capitol’s game, especially from those in the Capitol itself. The results of the game marked a change in power dynamics that would affect all of Panem in Mockingjay.
What the 75th Hunger Games result meant for Panem
Although it was not the first tribute rebellion, even the 10 games had unrest, it was the first major success and destabilizing of the status quo. There would be no more games after the Quarter Quell; The 76 games refer to Mockingjay’s Battle of the Capitol. The teamwork of the rebels, and, albeit unknowingly, Katniss, revitalized the districts with power, bravery and confidence. By relocating the victors to District 13, the hidden district became a powerful rebel base. District 13’s ability to control the media, interrupt Capitol broadcasting, and produce Mockingjay propaganda encourages rebellion and restrains power in Panem.
Panem would see immediate retaliation by the Capitol after the games, mostly through attacks on Katniss. District 12 was destroyed by bombings and Peeta was kidnapped with Tracker-Jacker poison to brainwash him into hating Katniss. This was a more cruel twist on Snow’s plan of making Katniss a Capitol pet by manipulating her actions in the games and on the Victory Tour. When this fails to quell rebellion, Snow harms her loved ones and the districts to regain control. Panem’s future would now hinge on Katniss’ actions, making her a powerful player in the game.
Is there ever going to be a winner for the 75th Hunger Games
There is evidence that Snow would not allow any victory. Snow sees the victors as problematic: they grow too bold and too united. He tells Katniss that she should have died for her berry trick, reminding her of his ability to manipulate death in the arena. Snow would not allow another mistake. Cutting the victors for a mass death would send the message that no one, not even the beloved winner, is invincible. He would sacrifice people’s belief in the games to restore order and control. The desire for control and power at another’s expense is central to Snow’s character.
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In contrast, the Quarter Quell tributes planned for Katniss’ victory in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. While Katniss fought to keep Peeta alive, the rebel tributes, Plutarch, and Haymitch worked to ensure Katniss’s survival. This was done by sacrificing the tributes, protecting Peeta, and recruiting Katniss’ chosen allies. If Katniss were to die, the revolution is sure to fall apart before it has even really begun. Although Katniss did not and could not win, her survival solidified her role as the rebellion’s mockingjay, initiating the next phase of the revolution as the rebels had hoped for all along.